A Clubby French Bistro Ruffles Uptown Social Feathers

La Goulue, a clubby French restaurant popular with Upper East Side socialites, reopened in January.CreditCreditDolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

By Beth Landman

Feb. 21, 2018

When La Goulue, the clubby French restaurant favored by Upper East Side socialites and others in the Black Card set, reopened in January after an eight-year absence, a certain rush was to be expected.

Some spoke of its reincarnation in near-messianic terms. “We have been waiting forever for La Goulue to come back,” said Francine LeFrak, a Broadway producer and daughter of Samuel LeFrak, the real estate developer who died in 2003. “There is so much loyalty toward that place.”

John Demsey, an executive president at Estée Lauder, said he had been to the restaurant every week since it reopened. “The thing that’s superfun and surrealistic is that everyone you knew from 25 years ago is still in the room, sometimes with different spouses or partners,” he said. “For some people, time has stood still, depending on the quality of their dermatologists or plastic surgeons.”

But its return is also testing loyalties and disrupting the finely calibrated social pecking order of the ZIP code’s wood-paneled canteens.

For those unacquainted with this rarefied dining scene, here is a little history. The previous La Goulue was ensconced on Madison Avenue near East 65th Street and was a cliquish playground for well-heeled Upper East Siders seeking more than just French classics like cheese souffle and coq au vin.

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Dovile Drizyte smoking outside La Goulue, at its new home at 29 East 61st Street.CreditDolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

When it closed in 2009 because the landlord would not renew its lease, it left a social void that other French restaurants were happy to fill. Chief among them was Le Bilboquet, a cozy bistro that moved to a larger spot at 20 East 60th Street in 2013; its owners include Philippe Delgrange, Ronald Perelman, Eric Clapton and Steven Witkoff.

Le Bilboquet’s buzzy scene of 1 percenters was soon peppered with boldfaces including Bill Gates, Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, Steven Tisch, Hugh Jackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The night Charlie Rose was dismissed from PBS last November for alleged sexual misconduct, he still arrived at his table in the front room.

Now with La Goulue reopening just one block north, at 29 East 61st Street, longtime patrons feel like remarried wives whose first husbands came back from the dead. Even the most socially prominent are treading carefully, fearful of offending one restaurateur or another, and jeopardizing their standing.

“When La Goulue was away, I didn’t feel like I was cheating by going elsewhere,” said Christine Pressman, whose husband’s family once owned Barneys New York. “But now that it’s back, I would feel disloyal.”

Gene Norden, a high-end real estate broker, said: “People are very conflicted about where to go now. I haven’t seen this kind of divisiveness in my circle since the elections.”

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Julie Macklowe, with her husband Billy Macklowe, poured Champagne during her 40th birthday party at La Goulue.CreditDolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

Julie Macklowe, a beauty entrepreneur who is married to the real estate scion Billy Macklowe, made a bold move by holding her 40th birthday party at La Goulue in December, a month before the restaurant officially reopened. Guests included the financier John Paulson, the real estate executive Aby Rosen and the art dealer David Mugrabi.

“I’m afraid when Philippe finds out, I might lose my table at Bilboquet,” Ms. Macklowe said, referring to the charismatic Mr. Delgrange, who is Le Bilboquet’s most public owner.

Her birthday guests are similarly worried about ruffling feathers. “Yes, I was at Julie’s party, but there is no need for Philippe to know,” said Brian Levine, a fertility doctor who was at Le Bilboquet on a recent Tuesday night, ordering the Cajun chicken.

La Goulue opened in 1974 and was created by Jean Denoyer, a Parisian restaurateur who has five Manhattan restaurants. Patrons knew they would run into others from their cosseted social circle at the restaurant.

“The incestuous French bistro scene in the East 60s began with Denoyer,” said Michael Gross, the editor of Avenue Magazine and the author of “740 Park,” a book about a prestigious Upper East Side apartment building.

Where one was seated was also a reflection of social standing. “Prestige and brand awareness are on the top of this crowd’s list, so if you are seated in the back, forget it,” said R. Couri Hay, a publicist for society doyennes, charitable institutions and luxury brands.

Mindful of the heightened competition (the immediate area also includes JoJo and Rotisserie Georgette), Mr. Denoyer was careful not to alter his prototype.

The original signage is back, along with the dark wood paneling that he kept in storage when his former lease ran out. Even the phone number (212-988-8169) is the same as it was in 1974.

But Mr. Denoyer isn’t resting on nostalgia alone. He and others from La Goulue have been reaching out to preferred patrons and enticing customers with more generous portions and lower wine prices.

“I felt very courted by La Goulue when they told me I can have a table for 11 on a coveted Saturday if I choose to have my annual birthday party there this year,” said Mr. Norden, the real estate agent. “Clients are also impressed that I can get a reservation at one of these social French spots. They feel I am an insider, and it helps me seal a deal.”

La Goulue has also been accused of poaching employees from rivals. One sore point is the dapper and blue-eyed Craig Pogson. Before he joined La Goulue as its managing partner, he was a manager at Le Bilboquet for two years, attending to V.I.P.s and overseeing the wine program.

“We went through excruciating measures and hired an expensive attorney to get Craig his green card, so that he could remain in the country and work for us,” said Karine Bakhoum, a spokeswoman for Le Bilboquet.

Mr. Pogson, who is from Scotland, said he more than satisfied his end of the arrangement. “They did get me my visa, but I got my own green card and I brought in 20 percent of their best customers, so they got a very good return on their investment with me,” he said. “They paid me pennies, and I helped make them rich.”

Adding to the contretemps, Mr. Pogson has hired former co-workers including Alex Lerner, the aristocratic-looking woman who ran the door at Le Bilboquet’s Hamptons outpost this summer, often turning potential diners away. Mr. Pogson says that the people he hired came to him for jobs.

“They tried to hire my lunch maitre d’ too,” said Mr. Delgrange, of Le Bilboquet, before getting in a dig of his own. “I was afraid once they opened I would be dead here, but we are still packed. Our crowd is much younger, though Craig left with a list of their phone numbers. And I’m sure he will contact them.”

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The dinner scene at La Goulue.CreditDolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

Though the new competition may create some discomfort for customers, it has also given them warmer service.

“They can be very snobby at some of the French restaurants in this neighborhood, but suddenly they are very eager to please,” said Lana Rozenberg, who has a dental practice on 63rd Street, just off Fifth Avenue.

“Now they are pouring bigger glasses of wine at Le Bilboquet,” said Eleanora Kennedy, a philanthropist.

And, for the time being, it may be easier to get a table — at least for those with the right social connections.

Cindy Barshop, who owns the women’s spa V Spot, which specializes in vaginal treatments, and who has appeared on “The Real Housewives of New York City,” visited La Goulue for dinner in January. “I was with three major superwealthy investors, but when we got there, the doorman asked if we had a reservation,” she said. “When we said no, he wouldn’t even let us step inside.”

“So I said, ‘No problem, we do have a reservation at Bilboquet,’” she continued. “Instantly he told us to hold on a minute. Then he walked inside, came back and showed us to a table.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Where to Go? La Goulue Or Maybe Le Bilboquet?. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe